S
Safe Haven - Temporary refuge given to
migrants who have fled their countries of origin to seek protection or relief
from persecution or other hardships, until they can return to their countries
safely or, if necessary until they can obtain permanent relief from the conditions
they fled.
Service Centers - Four offices established to
handle the filing, data entry, and adjudication of certain applications for
immigration services and benefits. The applications are mailed to INS Service
Centers -- Service Centers are not staffed to receive walk-in applications or
questions.
Special Agricultural
Workers (SAW) -
Aliens who performed labor in perishable agricultural commodities for a
specified period of time and were admitted for temporary and then permanent
residence under a provision of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986.
Up to 350,000 aliens who worked at least 90 days in each of the 3 years
preceding May 1, 1986 were eligible for Group I temporary resident status.
Eligible aliens who qualified under this requirement but applied after the
350,000 limit was met and aliens who performed labor in perishable agricultural
commodities for at least 90 days during the year ending May 1, 1986 were
eligible for Group II temporary resident status. Adjustment to permanent resident
status is essentially automatic for both groups; however, aliens in Group I
were eligible on December 1, 1989 and those in Group II were eligible one year
later on December 1, 1990.
Special Immigrants - Certain categories of immigrants
who were exempt from numerical limitation before fiscal year 1992 and subject
to limitation under the employment-based fourth preference beginning in 1992;
persons who lost citizenship by marriage; persons who lost citizenship by
serving in foreign armed forces; ministers of religion and other religious
workers, their spouses and children; certain employees and former employees of
the U.S. Government abroad, their spouses and children; Panama Canal Act
immigrants; certain foreign medical school graduates, their spouses and
children; certain retired employees of international organizations, their
spouses and children; juvenile court dependents; and certain aliens serving in
the U.S. Armed Forces, their spouses and children.
Special Naturalization
Provisions -
Provisions covering special classes of persons whom may be naturalized even
though they do not meet all the general requirements for naturalization. Such
special provisions allow: 1) wives or husbands of U.S. citizens to file for
naturalization after three years of lawful permanent residence instead of the
prescribed five years; 2) a surviving spouse of a U.S. citizen who served in
the armed forces to file his or her naturalization application in any district
instead of where he/she resides; and 3) children of U.S. citizen parents to be
naturalized without meeting certain requirements or taking the oath, if too
young to understand the meaning. Other classes of persons who may qualify for
special consideration are former U.S. citizens, servicemen, seamen, and
employees of organizations promoting U.S. interests abroad.
Sponsor - There are many ways to sponsor an
alien. The term "sponsor" in the immigration sense, often means to
bring to the United States or "petition for". If you would like to
sponsor, or petition for, a relative, please read the information entitled "How do I Bring my Family to the United States to
Live?" If you would like to sponsor, or petition for, an
employee, please see the instructions entitled "How Do I Get Immigrant Status Based on
Employment?" If you would like to sponsor, or petition
for, an overseas orphan, please refer to the information entitled "How do I bring an orphan to the United States to
live?"
If you are a refugee or an
asylee and wish to sponsor, or petition for a relative, please refer to the
document entitled "How Do I Get my Children or Spouse Derivative Asylum
(or Refugee) Status?"
Another meaning of the term
"sponsor" is a person who completes Form I-864, Affidavit of Support Under
Section 213A of the Act. This type of sponsorship is not, however, the first
step in any immigration process.
In order to be a sponsor and
file Form I-864, Affidavit of Support Under Section 213A of the Act, the
following conditions must already be met:
If you are a U.S. citizen
and are sponsoring, or petitioning for, your spouse, parents or minor children
who are currently in the United States, the above conditions do not need to be
met in that exact order. Your relative may file his or her application for
adjustment of status to that of a lawful permanent resident at the same time
you file the relative petition. If this is your situation, you, the petitioner,
must complete Form I-864, Affidavit of Support, and the petition for your
relative and give them to your relative to submit with the application for
adjustment of status.
For further information on
filing for adjustment of status to that of a lawful permanent resident, please
refer to the instructions entitled "How Do I Become a Lawful Permanent Resident While in
the United States?" For further information about being
a sponsor on Form I-864, please see the instructions entitled "How Do I File an Affidavit of Support for a
Relative?" or see "Affidavit of Support Package".
Stateless - Having no nationality.
Stowaway - An alien coming to the United
States surreptitiously on an airplane or vessel without legal status of
admission. Such an alien is subject to denial of formal admission and return to
the point of embarkation by the transportation carrier.
Student - As a nonimmigrant class of
admission, an alien coming temporarily to the United States to pursue a full
course of study in an approved program in either an academic (college,
university, seminary, conservatory, academic high school, elementary school,
other institution, or language training program) or a vocational or other
recognized nonacademic institution.
Suboffices - Offices found in some Districts
that serve a portion of the District’s jurisdiction. A Sub-office, headed by an
Officer-in-Charge, provides many services and enforcement functions. Their
locations are determined, in part, to increase convenience to INS customers.
Subject to the Numerical
Limit - Categories
of legal immigrants subject to annual limits under the provisions of the
flexible numerical limit of 675,000 set by the Immigration Act of 1990. The
largest categories are: family-sponsored preferences; employment-based
preferences; and diversity immigrants.
T
Temporary Protected
Status (TPS) -
Establishes a legislative basis for allowing a group of persons temporary
refuge in the United States. Under a provision of the Immigration Act of 1990,
the Attorney General may designate nationals of a foreign state to be eligible
for TPS with a finding that conditions in that country pose a danger to
personal safety due to ongoing armed conflict or an environmental disaster.
Grants of TPS are initially made for periods of 6 to 18 months and may be
extended depending on the situation. Removal proceedings are suspended against
aliens while they are in Temporary Protected Status.
Temporary Worker - An alien coming to the United
States to work for a temporary period of time. The Immigration Reform and Control
Act of 1986 and the Immigration Act of 1990, as well as other legislation,
revised existing classes and created new classes of nonimmigrant admission.
Nonimmigrant temporary worker classes of admission are as follows:
1) H-1A - registered nurses
(valid from 10/1/1990 through 9/30/1995);
2) H-1B - workers with
"specialty occupations" admitted on the basis of professional
education, skills, and/or equivalent experience;
3) H-1C - registered nurses
to work in areas with a shortage of health professionals under the Nursing
Relief for Disadvantaged Areas Act of 1999;
4) H-2A - temporary
agricultural workers coming to the United States to perform agricultural
services or labor of a temporary or seasonal nature when authorized workers are
unavailable in the United States;
5) H-2B - temporary
non-agricultural workers coming to the United States to perform temporary
services or labor if unemployed persons capable of performing the service or
labor cannot be found in the United States;
6) H-3 - aliens coming temporarily
to the United States as trainees, other than to receive graduate medical
education or training;
7) O-1, O-2, O-3 -
temporary workers with extraordinary ability or achievement in the sciences,
arts, education, business, or athletics; those entering solely for the purpose
of accompanying and assisting such workers; and their spouses and children;
8) P-1, P-2, P-3, P-4 -
athletes and entertainers at an internationally recognized level of
performance; artists and entertainers under a reciprocal exchange program;
artists and entertainers under a program that is "culturally unique";
and their spouses and children;
9) Q-1, Q-2, Q-3 -
participants in international cultural exchange programs; participants in the
Irish Peace Process Cultural and Training Program; and spouses and children of
Irish Peace Process participants;
10) R-1, R-2 - temporary
workers to perform work in religious occupations and their spouses and
children.
See other sections of this
Glossary for definitions of Exchange Visitor, Intracompany Transferee, and
U.S.-Canada or North American Free-Trade Agreement classes of nonimmigrant
admission.
Terrorist – One who engages in the
unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence individually or with an
organized group against people or property with the intention of intimidating
or coercing societies or governments, often for ideological or political reasons.
Transit Alien - An alien in immediate and
continuous transit through the United States, with or without a visa,
including, 1) aliens who qualify as persons entitled to pass in transit to and
from the United Nations Headquarters District and foreign countries and 2)
foreign government officials and their spouses and unmarried minor (or
dependent) children in transit.
Transition Quarter - The three-month period--July 1
through September 30, 1976--between fiscal year 1976 and fiscal year 1977. At
that time, the fiscal year definition shifted from July 1-June 30 to October
1-September 30.
Transit Without Visa
(TWOV) - A transit
alien traveling without a nonimmigrant visa under section 233 of the INA. An
alien admitted under agreements with a transportation line, which guarantees
his immediate and continuous passage to a foreign destination.
Treaty Trader or
Investor - As a
nonimmigrant class of admission, an alien coming to the United States, under
the provisions of a treaty of commerce and navigation between the United States
and the foreign state of such alien, to carry on substantial trade or to direct
the operations of an enterprise in which he/she has invested a substantial
amount of capital, and the alien’s spouse and unmarried minor children.
See Treaty Traders and Investors.
U
Underrepresented
Countries, Natives of
- The Immigration Amendments of 1988, Public Law 101-658 (Act of 11/5/88)
allowed for 10,000 visas to be issued to natives of underrepresented countries
in each of fiscal years 1990 and 1991. Under-represented countries are defined
as countries that received less than 25 percent of the maximum allowed under
the country limitations (20,000 for independent countries and 5,000 for
dependencies) in fiscal year 1988. (See Diversity.)
United States-Canada
Free-Trade Agreement
- Public Law 100-449 (Act of 9/28/88) established a special, reciprocal trading
relationship between the United States and Canada. It provided two new classes
of nonimmigrant admission for temporary visitors to the United States-Canadian
citizen business persons and their spouses and unmarried minor children. Entry
is facilitated for visitors seeking classification as visitors for business,
treaty traders or investors, intracompany transferees, or other business people
engaging in activities at a professional level. Such visitors are not required
to obtain nonimmigrant visas, prior petitions, labor certifications, or prior
approval but must satisfy the inspecting officer they are seeking entry to
engage in activities at a professional level and that they are so qualified.
The United States-Canada Free-Trade Agreement was superseded by the North
American Free-Trade Agreement (NAFTA) as of 1/1/94.
See NAFTA.
V
Visa Waiver Program - Allows citizens of certain
selected countries, traveling temporarily to the United States under the
nonimmigrant admission classes of visitors for pleasure and visitors for
business, to enter the United States without obtaining nonimmigrant visas.
Admission is for no more than 90 days. The program was instituted by the
Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (entries began 7/1/88). Under the
Guam Visa Waiver Program, certain visitors from designated countries may visit
Guam only for up to 15 days without first having to obtain nonimmigrant visitor
visas.
Voluntary Departure - The departure of an alien from
the United States without an order of removal. The departure may or may not
have been preceded by a hearing before an immigration judge. An alien allowed
to voluntarily depart concedes removability but does not have a bar to seeking
admission at a port-of-entry at any time. Failure to depart within the time
granted results in a fine and a ten-year bar to several forms of relief from
deportation.
W
Withdrawal - An arriving alien’s voluntary
retraction of an application for admission to the United States in lieu of a
removal hearing before an immigration judge or an expedited removal.
Withdrawals are not included in nonimmigrant admission data.